The dedication plaques for Robinson Center, including the original, one for this new renovation, and workers hang one from a 1970s renovation.

Michael Hibblen
/ KUAR News

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Hear KUAR's interview with Gretchen Hall about the renovations to Robinson Center.

After nearly two and a half years of work, a ribbon cutting ceremony is set for Thursday at 10 a.m. for Little Rock's Robinson Center. A $70 million renovation is being completed on the auditorium which first opened in 1939.

The project was funded by a two percent tax approved by Little Rock voters in 2013.

Gretchen Hall, president and CEO of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau, has been overseeing the renovation and spoke with KUAR's Michael Hibblen from inside the newly rebuilt venue. You can hear the interview above.

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Free tickets will be handed out Tuesday at 10 a.m. on the steps of the newly renovated Robinson Center in Little Rock for a thank you concert later this month by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. It comes as final work is being done before next week's grand reopening and ribbon cutting ceremony.

While the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra prepares to hold its annual Opus Ball this weekend at the Capital Hotel in Little Rock, plans were announced Thursday for next year’s fundraiser. It will be the inaugural event for a new ballroom that’s part of a nearly $70 million renovation of Robinson Center Music Hall.

Chip and Cindy Murphy were named as chairs of the 2016 Opus Ball. Standing where the ballroom is being constructed on top of the original building, Cindy Murphy said it will be a monumental event.

When a nearly $70 million renovation of Little Rock’s historic Robinson Center Music Hall is complete late next year, the venue will be able to host any touring Broadway production. And officials announced Monday that for the first time, Andrew Lloyd Webber's renowned Phantom of the Opera will be coming to town in March 2017.

It's one of the shows that in the past couldn't be staged at Robinson because of its layout and loading limitations. But the extensive renovations underway right now will change that.

On the one year anniversary of Little Rock’s historic Robinson Auditorium closing to begin a nearly $70 million renovation, a topping out ceremony was held Wednesday. The final steel beam that will be put in place on the expanded structure was signed by local officials, members of the design and construction teams and other guests. Work is scheduled to be completed by November 2016.

As workers begin to rebuild the interior of Little Rock's Robinson Auditorium, a key goal of the nearly $70 million renovation is to greatly improve its acoustics.

There had long been complaints about how live music sounded in the venue, which is the home of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. There were "dead spots" in the hall where the audience couldn’t properly hear the orchestra or all the instruments. That’s why the facility has been gutted and is being rebuilt inside the existing structure as part of the voter-approved project, funded with a two percent tourism tax.

The Little Rock Board of Directors is to decide Tuesday afternoon whether to allow a special election for voters to decide whether to use a two percent tax to fund a massive renovation of Robinson Center Music Hall.

But there are concerns that there hasn’t been enough discussion about the funding.

The extensive plan was unveiled last week, calling for $60 million worth of renovations to the building, which was built in 1939. The cost rises to $68 million when including the expense of relocating staff and paying for a special bond election.

Little Rock city leaders are to decide next Tuesday whether to allow voters to consider a proposal to fund the renovation of Robinson Center Music Hall.

Tuesday evening the Board of Directors heard a presentation detailing upgrades to the facility. Earlier in the day advocates for the project detailed it for reporters. You can view a PDF of the presentation here.